The Good, The Bad, The Spin

• Common sense PR writes about sucking it up when getting hammered by the press. It’s not always the best strategy but it is sometimes the only viable approach. Brands often remain intact, if not stronger, after severe PR crises. Allow time to diffuse the difficult.
• They’re what what make America great and distinguish the country from many others. They are also what many Americans fear and loathe: dangerous ideas. Richard Dawkins presents Steven Pinker’s “In Defense of Dangerous Ideas.”
• Courtesy of Bob Sutton, the Village Voice writes about New York’s “Most Obnoxious Lawyer,” who was recently disbarred, in an unprecedented move, for being a total asshole. This suggests that, as individuals, we send our own brand messages. This is not to suggest we abide by strict societal standards of behavior; quite the contrary, as many proudly build their image on shedding norms. Rather, as the Voice sums up:

“Go too far in the other direction, though, and you wind up as someone who won’t let go of anything. And (lawyer Kenny) Heller has paid for that. After 50 years of unleashing his wrath verbally or by filing misconduct complaints or lawsuits against anyone who got in his way—judges, attorneys, expert witnesses, district attorneys, and even the governor—Heller was left pleading for mercy from those to whom he had never shown any. After claiming that people were out to get him, they finally did.” 

Consider the beautiful bell curve, a graphic representation that tells much about the world. Most of us are weighted closest to the center of the curve in most matters—athletic ability, intelligence, attractiveness and so on. When it comes to issues relating the treatment of animals, most people likely fall into the middle of the bell of the curve, which could represent indifference to the issue, while others reside in both margins—ranging from extreme indifference to extreme passion (as one possible construction of the range of views).

The bell curve visual is important for a couple reasons. First, it shows a representation of the law of averages. Sooner or later the rolls of the die will average into the middle. The bell curve is not perfect, but for many scenarios it is telling of reality. Most of us are of average intelligence, for example.

The second reason the bell curve is important: News coverage often comes not from the mundane middle of the bell curve but from what is happening in the extremities. Dog bites man—average. Man bites dog—now this is news, and an unlikely roll of the dice.  (more…)

Blogs inundate the Internet and it’s questionable to assume the technology is ultimately the best way to get one’s message across. It’s wise to be guarded about trends, especially in public relations. Conversely, it’s wise to follow communications trends to be aware of where, and how, people will get their information.

Consider blogs the independent media of the day. When I was in journalism school, I took part in what was then being called the ‘zine revolution, wherein independent publishers printed booklets, journals, newspapers, magazines on shoestring budgets. The impact was similar to how blogs break stories today. (more…)